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How To Stay Healthy While Working From Home – Our Top Fitness Tips!

Working from home may seem like a dream come true. Your office is just a few steps away from your bed, you don’t have an overbearing boss, and you can work in your pajamas – without getting odd looks from your coworkers! And while working from home is better for your health than working in an office, it’s still easy to become totally focused on your work, and forget about your overall mental and physical health.But maintaining a fitness regimen has numerous benefits. It can reduce your risk of a heart attack and stroke, make you feel better about yourself, and aid in weight loss, along with the proper diet. In fact, working out regularly can even increase your libido! In this guide, we’ll talk about a few of our favorite tips for staying healthy when working from home. Take a look, and get the information you need to live your best life!

Exercise And Take Care Of Your Body

Regular exercise is one of the most important things for your body. Exercise reduces your risk of diabetes and other chronic health conditions, and can even boost your libido. Exercise is also a key component in any weight loss regimen, alongside a healthy diet.You also need to take care of your body while you’re working, just like you would at any office job. Here are our top tips on exercising and taking care of your body.

Invest in proper ergonomics

When you spend 8 hours or more per-day staring at a computer screen and typing, it’s a good idea to invest in the proper ergonomic devices that you’ll need to be comfortable. Here are a few good rules of thumb for your workstation that you should follow:

Raise your monitor so that your neck is in a neutral position when looking at it

Avoid slouching

Keep your keyboard and mouse close together

Avoid eyestrain by keeping your monitor at least an arms-length away

Make sure your feet are on the ground when seated

Ensure your desk properly supports your arms and shoulders

You may need to buy a new desk, chair, monitor stand, or other products to achieve perfect ergonomics. Don’t worry – it’s worth the investment (and tax deductible if you work from home!)

Get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day

If you don’t follow any of our other tips, follow this one. Even just taking a 30-minute walk is associated with a (1) myriad of great health benefits. Clinically-proven benefits include:

Weight loss

Improved libido

Better mood and mental health

Lower risk of chronic disease

Healthier metabolism

Increased creativity

More “regular” digestive system

You can enjoy even more benefits if you can carve an hour out of your day to exercise. And, of course, walking is not your only option. You can also do other workouts such as bicycling, swimming, jogging and running, and even jumping rope! If you’re not already active and athletic, though, we recommend starting with regular, long walks. Then, as your health improves, you may be able to start jogging and running. If that interests you, (2) Couch To 5K is a great program that can help you get started.

Consider a standing desk

A standing desk is a great way to improve the ergonomics of your workspace. Standing desks have been shown to (3) improve your overall health, and may even encourage weight loss! Research has indicated that a standing desk helps encourage better posture, and may even increase life expectancy.You can invest in a product like the (4) Varidesk if you’re interested in a standing desk. This desk can be adjusted to almost any height, and can be lowered to a normal desk level if you would like to both sit and stand at your desk.

Take a few minutes to stretch every hour

Human beings were not built to spend 8 or more hours sitting or standing at a desk, typing on a keyboard, making phone calls, and filling out paperwork. That’s why it’s important to take regular breaks.We recommend using a timer that goes off every 55 minutes while you’re working. Then, you can stretch, decompress, and take a small break that will seriously help your mental health, and prevent issues like RSI (repetitive stress injury), tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Eat Right (And Regularly!)

Eating right is a key component of your overall health, and is the #1 most important factor in weight loss. Even if you exercise regularly, you likely will not see great weight loss or health results unless you’re eating properly.

Track what you eat

Today, it’s easier than ever to track the calories that you consume. This is the best way to lose weight. To lose 1 pound, you must consume 3500 fewer calories than you burn in a week. Conversely, if you eat 3500 more calories than you burn in a week, you will gain a pound.So unless you track your calories, it’s hard to understand how much to eat. Apps like (5) MyFitnessPal and (6) Loseit are fantastic resources. They have community-sourced lists of millions of commonly-consumed foods. They can also help you set a daily calorie goal that’s tailored to your level of health and fitness.Even if you don’t want to lose weight, tracking what goes into your body will help you get a better idea of how to improve your overall health.

Prepare lunches and meals in advance

If you don’t have lunches and other meals prepared in advance, you may be tempted to go out to eat, or just snack on some unhealthy food that you’ve got lying around. To avoid this, we recommend a meal prep routine!Meal prep is a huge trend among office workers, and it’s just as useful if you work from home! You can prepare meals for 2-3 days at once, and just stick them in the fridge. Toss one in the microwave, and you’ve got a tasty, pre-made lunch which is healthy, cheap, and wholesome.Need meal prep ideas? (7) Here’s a great article with tons of delicious and easy recipes.

Avoid excessive snacking

Snacking throughout the day is one of the most common reasons that diets and weight loss regimens fail. If you eat snacks constantly and do not track them, you may be consuming more calories than you need – which will result in a higher risk of diabetes, lower libido, and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.If you like snacking, do it in a controlled manner. Use a food scale to measure out 1 or 2 portions of your favorite snack, instead of just munching food straight from the bag. This way, you have a clear stopping point – and you know exactly how much you ate.

However, if you are going to snack, make sure that it’s raw fruits and vegetables most of the time or wholefood snack.

Don’t forget to eat!

This may seem silly, but it’s really important, especially if you work from home. If you roll out of bed, grab a coffee, and start working, you could forget to eat for hours at a time – and that’s bad for your overall health, and your weight loss goals.Have a banana or a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and set an alert to remind you when it’s time to eat lunch. Your body needs fuel throughout the day, so if you forget to eat until 3-4 PM, you’ll notice problems like decreased energy levels (or even libido), irritability, or even a headache.Have three regular meals a day, and you will see an immediate increase in your overall physical and mental well-being.

It’s a great idea to sip on a smoothie throughout the day to keep your energy level up and your blood sugar controlled. The best plant based smoothie we found is this one. Our favorite flavor is the God Sent (it’s so yummy) Dutch Chocolate. But you can also get it in the French Vanilla Flavor. To us the French Vanilla tastes like Cake Batter 😍 Check it out!

Don’t Forget Your Mental Health

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. So don’t neglect it! By taking just a few simple steps, you can ensure that you’re happy and mentally stable, and able to prioritize work, life, and pleasure appropriately. Here are our best tips for maintaining your mental health while working from home.

Have an “office”

Sure, it’s tempting to just work on your couch, or sprawl yourself across your bed with your laptop while you start your day. But often, this will cause you to be less productive. Unless you have a dedicated “office” space, the lines between work and “time off” will blur. Having a dedicated office space helps you maintain mental focus and clarity – especially if you only work when you are in that space. When you’re at your office, you’re “clocked in”, and when you leave it, you’re “clocked out.” Your office doesn’t have to be a separate room. It can just be a desk with all of your equipment and supplies on it – as long as you maintain a mental barrier between your “office” and the rest of your home, it will serve the same function.

Make a strict schedule – and stick to it

Schedules are your friend. Flexibility is, of course, one of the biggest benefits of working from home. However, too much flexibility is a bad thing. You’ll end up spending hours on non-work-related tasks – then realize you still have deadlines to meet, clients to call, or other tasks to do.So make a schedule. Wake up at the same time every day, and give yourself a deadline by which you’ll have all of your important tasks done. This will help you stay focused throughout your workday, and prevent you from wasting too much time on Facebook or other trivial, non-work-related tasks.

Don’t always work in your PJs

Again, this is a helpful tool for putting up a mental barrier between “work” and “fun.” If you constantly work in the same clothes that you sleep and relax in, it’s easy to blur the lines between recreation and work.So don’t just roll out of bed bleary-eyed and start working in your PJs. Put on some coffee, take a shower, and get dressed for work. You don’t have to put on office clothes or a perfectly-ironed shirt – just a pair of jeans and a nice blouse or shirt is enough.Getting dressed and prepared for the day helps you organize your thoughts, and get ready for your upcoming work day.

Get out every once in a while

Spending 8+ hours working from home – and then relaxing at home – can lead to you becoming a bit of a homebody. It’s not uncommon for freelancers to realize they’ve only left the house once or twice in the last week to get groceries! So make it a point to get out once in a while. Grab your laptop and head to your favorite coffee shop, or head to the gym in the middle of the day. You can even treat yourself to a lunch at your favorite restaurant! Just make it a point to leave the house at least once a day. Doing so will help you maintain focus and clarity, and keep you from getting “cabin fever”!

Track your hours, and set limits

It’s important to track the hours you work – both for billing clients, and for your own mental health. You should also set limits for yourself. For example, most people work 40-45 hours a week, so you should set your target at about 8 hours per day, and limit yourself to that schedule.Of course, there are always times when you must surpass your limits and work overtime – but recognize that these should be the exception to the rule. Without setting strict time limits and hour caps, you may end up working 50-60+ hour weeks without even realizing it.

Get plenty of sleep

Freelancers often maintain odd hours, especially if they work with international companies and clients. However, it’s still important for you to get enough sleep. Sleep (8) deprivation leads to weight gain and decreased libido, as well as a deteriorated mental state.Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a day – no excuses. If you have to stay up late for a client call or another reason, consider taking a nap the next day. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will build up a “sleep debt” – and you’ll have to (9) repay that debt eventually!

Stay Healthy While Working From Home With This Guide

If you work from home, you’re in a great position to take control of your physical and mental health. You have more freedom and flexibility than someone with a traditional office job – so use that to your benefit! With this guide, you’ll be able to lose weight, maintain a better mental state and work-life balance, and even boost your libido and energy levels. Of course, these tips are just as applicable to office workers, or anyone who is interested in taking control of their health.So take another look through our guide now, and see how you can take control of your health today!